


High Ideals

by DeCarabas



Series: Fugitives Together [35]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 14:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16834228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeCarabas/pseuds/DeCarabas
Summary: After the Arishok. For the prompt: "Traps holding light at your feet."





	High Ideals

It felt like a cheat, what he’d done to the Arishok. 

Hawke’s heard that before, that magic is somehow cheating,but this was the first time he thought he could understand. A skilled warrior, an offer of an honorable duel, absolutely no idea that Hawke was _bas saarebas, a dangerous thing_ , and all that talk about how much he respected Hawke and only Hawke out of this whole lousy city - frozen in place and picked away at by inches while he couldn’t fight back, in front of a crowd of onlookers. And that burning smell, no different than setting fire to any darkspawn or spider or failed mugger on the streets at night. Even Templars don’t fight mages one on one.

And Anders makes an exasperated sound as he listens to all this. He curls around Hawke in bed, fingers brushing again over bruises that are already faded, spreading waves of healing magic, soothing and warm and not necessary, and mutters even while his magic works, _it’s not a_ cheat _, of all the -_ _it’s a part of you,_ and _you should be able to be proud of what you can do, you saved the bloody city_ , and _you’ve seen what they do to mages,_ and the exasperation in his voice is more soothing than the magic moving through his hands.

“I admired him,” Hawke says. 

“He was _brainwashed_ -”

“He reminded me of you.” 

Anders draws back and stares at him, affronted.

All those high ideals. Seeing the world as it could be rather than as it is, the kind of world where everyday injustices were worth going to war over, where honorable duels might make some kind of sense; trying to set the world right.


End file.
